Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tests positive for betamethasone, trainer Bob Baffert says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post



Horse racing’s Triple Crown season veered into confusion on Sunday morning upon the news that Medina Spirit, the Kentucky Derby winner, tested positive for an excessive presence of betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug permitted only in certain amounts. His trainer, Bob Baffert, said his training team had not treated Medina Spirit with that drug.It hurled back into the season the recent-years, doping-related questions swirling around Baffert, whose unexpected win with the 12-1 shot Medina Spirit on May 1 provided a record seventh Kentucky Derby win for the affable, 68-year-old king of the sport.

Churchill Downs moved to suspend Baffert from entering any horses at the venerable track in Louisville, citing “the seriousness of the alleged offense.” “To be clear,” read a Churchill Downs statement, “if the findings are upheld [in subsequent testing], Medina Spirit’s results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun [the second-place finisher] will be declared the winner.” If that were to occur, Medina Spirit would become the third horse in the 147-year history of the event to suffer disqualification after crossing the wire first, and the second in the past three runnings. In 1968, Dancer’s Image won the Derby but then officially gave way the following Tuesday, when the presence of phenylbutazone in a urinalysis tilted the win to runner-up Forward Pass.

In 2019, Maximum Security finished ahead of 18 rivals in the race before stewards disqualified him on the basis of interference near the top of the stretch. His trainer, Jason Servis, joined those indicted months later after a federal investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in the sport, at which point that horse went to Baffert. Speaking to reporters at his Churchill Downs barn on Sunday in midmorning, Baffert began by saying both Medina Spirit and Concert Tour would board a van on Monday afternoon and head forward the Preakness Stakes, which is scheduled for Saturday. Baffert promised an investigation of the test result and said, “They’re not gonna see betamethasone,” during remarks to reporters streamed by The Paulick Report.

A filly he trained, Gamine, wound up disqualified from the 2020 Kentucky Oaks because she had 27 picograms of the same substance, above the allotted 10 in Kentucky. Medina Spirit showed 21 picograms, Baffert said Sunday.“Well, I’m worried about our sport,” Baffert said. “Our sport, you know, we’ve taken a lot of hits to the sport, and you know, this is pretty serious accusations here, but we’re gonna get to the bottom of it, find out. We know we didn’t do it, and that’s the thing. We didn’t have anything to do with this. I don’t know how it got in his system, if it was in his system, or a mistake. But we’re gonna get to the bottom of it.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/05/09/kentucky-derby-winner-medina-spirit-positive-test-bob-baffert/

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Uh oh...

Original article -

Horse racing's Triple Crown season veered into confusion on Sunday morning upon the news that Medina Spirit, the Kentucky Derby winner, tested positive for an excessive presence of betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug permitted only in certain amounts. His trainer, Bob Baffert, said his training team not treated Medina Spirit with that drug.

It hurled back into the mix of the season the recent-years, doping-related questions around Baffert, whose unexpected win with the 12-1 shot Medina Spirit on May 1 provided a record seventh Kentucky Derby win for the affable, 68-year-old king of the sport. By midmorning Sunday, when Baffert spoke to reporters at his barn at Churchill Downs in Louisville, officials had not disqualified Medina Spirit, with follow-up testing to come. Such results are rare in the long history of the race.

In 1968, Dancer's Image won the Derby but then officially gave way the following Tuesday, when the presence of phenylbutazone in a urinalysis tilted the win to runner-up Forward Pass. Baffert promised an investigation and said, "They're not gonna see betamethasone," during remarks to reporters streamed by The Paulick Report. A filly he trained, Gamine, wound up disqualified from the 2020 Kentucky Oaks because she had 27 picograms of the same substance, above the allotted 10 in Kentucky. Medina Spirit showed 21 picograms, Baffert said Sunday.

"Well, I'm worried about our sport," Baffert said. "Our sport, you know, we've taken a lot of hits to the sport, and you know, this is pretty serious accusations here, but we're gonna get to the bottom of it, find out. We know we didn't do it, and that's the thing. We didn't have anything to do with this. I don't know how it got in his system, if it was in his system, or a mistake. But we're gonna get to the bottom of it." Just last month, Baffert successfully appealed a suspension and loss of prize money during a 13-hour hearing with racing officials in Arkansas, who reversed his 15-day suspension and restored the earnings of Charlatan and Gamine, who each won on Arkansas Derby day on May 2, 2020, then had those wins stripped because of the race-time presence of lidocaine.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

[exboyfil]

1. But the gamblers have already been paid

I wonder if the horse got doped without the knowledge of the trainer.

[jeffreyi]

2. Darn horses.

It's all their fault.

[Effete Snob]

15. .

Link to tweet

[George II]

3. He's had a number of positives and DQs in the last year or so. There's always an "excuse" for him.

[CountAllVotes]

4. Baffert has a bad record!

Refer to the Sports section here ...

There is a post by twogunsid where I posted a chart on the number of dead horses that he used to own!

Baffert needs to be BANNED from horse racing!

[George II]

6. I think you meant "he used to train", he doesn't own any horses. He's had about 5-6 positives....

....in high profile races over the last year or so.

And he always has an excuse. Let's hope he's finally run out of excuses.

[CountAllVotes]

5. the post is entitled "Deadly to Horses: The Baffert Effect"

It is the first post in the sports forum under sports!



https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1204&pid=79245


!!

[TheRickles]

10. Perhaps a clearer way of summarizing this data would be to say that

Baffert's horses die 60 times more frequently than do the horses of other trainers. Not a random fluke - this is statistically significant.

[George II]

14. What's interesting in those statistics is that overall horses start 6.1 times per year....

....(assuming that's the time frame in your second line?) but Baffert's horses only average 3.8 per year.

[TNNurse]

7. How carefully this did not call betamethasone by its other classification:

It is a steroid.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Yeah I think the "sone" was the kicker.

We use steroidal drugs like "prednisone" as an anti-inflammatory.

We are used to hearing about OTC "Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory" drugs like acetaminophen, etc., so one could deduce...

[George II]

9. Articles in racing publications (DRF and The Bloodhorse) have called it a corticosteroid:

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/250027/medina-spirit-tests-positive-for-betamethasone

https://www.drf.com/news/medina-spirit-tests-positive-betamethasone-post-kentucky-derby-sample

[ashredux]

11. oddly it seems appropriate in our current era...cheating

[Sneederbunk]

13. Cheating, it's the American way.

[Coventina]

12. Horse racing is cruel and barbaric. n/t

[pressbox69]

16. Maybe Baffert

needs to train horses that will compete in the Buddy Jacobson Stakes.

[twogunsid]

17. Or start training kangaroos.

[djm5971]

18. Tell them....

Someone should tell these horses to JUST SAY NO....

[twogunsid]

19. So much for conspiracies and cancel culture, Bob...

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/triple-crown/baffert-anti-fungal-ointment-could-be-source-of-betamethasone-positive-in-medina-spirit/

[twogunsid]

21. I think he is being a little disingenuous in his statement...

..."First of all, we're not talking about the sum total of 21 picograms in the entire horse's body, it's 21 picograms per milliliter of blood. The horse has an awful amount of blood, probably in excess of 50,000 milliliters. That also doesn't measure the medication that has left the blood stream and entered the tissue. So, it's not 21 picograms in the entire horse–it's 21 picograms in one milliliter of blood. That's a different math problem right there.

Secondly, picogram is a measurement of weight and not potency. And so, my best way to explain this is to compare a pound of celery to a pound of Godiva chocolate. They both weigh a pound, so they have the same weight measurement, but in terms of potency–and let's say that's caloric content–they are hugely different, right? So, when you talk about a picogram of something, all you're really talking about is a measurement of weight.

Betamethasone is a potent corticosteroid administered at fairly low doses–nine milligrams or less in a single joint. Compare that to phenylbutazone which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. It's not a particularly potent drug–it's administered in gram doses. And so, we don't worry about picogram doses of phenylbutazone. We regulate phenylbutazone at the microgram level, which is one-millionth of a gram, and that's again because the drug disperses throughout the entire body.

So, you have to consider the potency of the drug, and because betamethasone is administered in low milligram doses, picogram concentrations are highly relevant." Dr Mary Scollay

[ChubbyStar]

23. I know Bob Baffert

My sister and brother in law were very good friends with the late Jess Jackson and his wife Barbara. I went to the Derby in 2010 with my sis and the Jackson entourage, very very very nice. First class people all the way. I have met Bob on numerous occasions, he is a first rate asshole and a cheater. You have no clue what you are talking about Jill.

[ChubbyStar]

26. Poor thing

Don't let that bee in your bonnet sting you.

[ChubbyStar]

28. LOLLOLLOLOLOLOOOOOOLLOOLLOOLLOOO

Don't quit your day job.....

[twogunsid]

24. Graham Motion, Cowboy Jones, Christophe Clemente...

...Billy Turner. Buff Bradley but he just retired.

[twogunsid]

30. Yeah, those first three are still active trainers...

...and Buff just retired last week.